Abstract: 8,520 women were asked to view images of men with various stages of facial hair—clean shaven, light stubble, heavy stubble and full beards. Read on to learn the opinions they formed.

The beard trend has been going strong for several years now. Some critics are starting to think the lineup of lumberjack look-alikes may soon be coming to an end. However, for those still strutting around with their stubble intact, new research conducted by the University of Queensland in Australia has discovered women form certain opinions about men based on how much facial hair they have—and men may want to think twice about going clean-shaven.

8,520 women were asked to view computer generated images of men with various stages of facial hair: clean-shaven, light stubble, heavy stubble and full beards.

The Results

• Stubble was judged as most attractive overall. It also received the highest marks for a short-term relationship.

• A full beard was more desirable in terms of looking for a committed partner.

• The lease attractive images were those of extremely masculine males and extremely feminine looking males.

Men have reportedly answered similarly when evaluating their own appearance; those who participated in a similar study considered a full beard to be as appealing as heavy stubble, and they tend to feel more masculine as their amount of facial hair increases.